Mystery at Hogwarts Redux
by MrHankeyFan
Summary: Inspired by the Mattel game
1. Default Chapter

"Mystery at Hogwarts Redux" (inspired by the Mattel game "Mystery at Hogwarts")  
  
"You know as well as I do that you never win these things Hermione," Ron smirked, putting the chess pieces back in their box and watching as his friend covered her face in exasperation.  
  
"I can't BELIEVE you always win this....it's just luck, I'll get you next time, you just wait." Hermione scowled.  
  
"Well I'll just leave the memorization of useless facts from books to you Hermione and you leave the logic of games like this to me, " Ron smiled more widely, he was enjoying this.  
  
"Logic...you call falling in love with that floosie Fleur Delacore LOGICAL?" Hermione smiled back evilly.  
  
Ron went red. "Need I say Lock..."  
  
"Don't even start, " Hermione cut him off, standing up and trying to look dignified. "I'm going to my room now. Goodnight."  
  
Ron stood up too, holding the box under his arms and staring down at Crookshanks, who nipped at his heels once and then snootily turned around with his tail in the air, following his owner. Ron just laughed and headed for the dorms himself whispering "insufferable" under his breath.  
  
The next morning Harry, Ron and Hermione were seated at the Gryffindor table eating their breakfast when Colin Creavy ran up to them excitedly.  
  
"Have you heard, have you heard?"  
  
"What are you on about Colin?" Harry asked, scooping porridge in his mouth.  
  
"The contest!"  
  
"Oh no more Triwizard talk...I've had QUITE enough of that, "Harry said, frowing.  
  
"No it's not THAT. This contest is open to all students and tests our detective skills."  
  
"Oh I should be very good at that," Hermione turned, paying more attention.  
  
Ron just snickered under his breath. "So what do we have to do?"  
  
Colin handed them all a piece of parchment explaining the rules.  
  
"So, based on clues strategically placed throughout Hogwarts, we have to figure out who performed what spell in what room? That sounds a bit juvenile, but simple enough," Hermione remarked.  
  
"Yeah, and to make it even MORE difficult, Peeves is going to be blocking the way to the rooms sometimes so we have to go a roundabout way to get the clues from there!" Colin was practically jumping out of his seat. Harry wasn't sure if this was because of the game or because Colin was the one who got to tell Harry about it.  
  
"Great, so we start after breakfast, what a way to spend a Saturday, "Ron said, stuffing sausage into his mouth.  
  
"And the winner in each group gets 50 points for their house, I'm sure that Gryffindor will win," Colin said confidently, looking at Harry in particular.  
  
"We'll see. So we break up in groups of 6?"  
  
"Yeah, and one of you is the "culprit" based on clues they have picked at random," Colin said excitedly.  
  
"Like I would ever cast a spell in an empty room without a teacher present..." Hermione said, rolling her eyes.  
  
Ron and Harry thought about the Polyjuice Potion spell among other things but decided not to say anything.  
  
"Well good luck, "Colin said again. McGonagall has the folders with our groups over there.  
  
After breakfast was over, Dumbledore took the opportunity to update the students on the rules of the game they'd be participating in and said he hoped it would encourage cooperation, develop logical thinking skills, and give the students a bit of a break from regular classwork.  
  
"I'm going to cream you Ron," Hermione smiled, pulling out a spell book to familiarize herself with the intricacies of all the spells used in the game.  
  
"Not if YOU are the culprit," Ron responded.   
  
"If anyone is the culprit, it's you," Hermione commented, not looking up but continuing to stare at her textbook.  
  
"Will you two stop..."Harry began, but then he noticed Malfoy and his two thugs Crabbe and Goyle headed their way.  
  
"What do you want?" Harry asked them in a voice that was less than cordial.  
  
"Hey, we don't like it anymore than you do, but the three of us are paired with you clowns," Malfoy said, a look of disgust on his face.  
  
"That'll just make it even easier to win," Hermione said, looking up from her book and smiling.  
  
"We'll see about that bookworm," Malfoy grimaced at her. "As far as I'm concerned, you ALL are my enemies until I clear you." He started to walk off with Crabbe and Goyle stumbling behind, looking like pet trolls following their master.  
  
"Oh the nerve," Hermione said, slamming her book shut. "It's only natural that one of THEM will be the culprit."  
  
"Well we better get going, we are supposed to meet in front of the...."  
  
"Library!" Hermione said excitedly, looking down at her instructional parchment now. "That's our starting point, not that that is where the spell will take place or anything..that would be just...just wrong." She said, starting to head toward the Great Hall exit.   
  
"Should be fun." Ron said sarcastically as he and Harry ran after Hermione.  
  
Several groups of students were gathered in front of the Hogwarts Library, talking noisily amongst themselves. McGonagall was trying to keep order the best she could. "Now, please everyone listen. Each group of six will have a set of clues to find in each of the rooms, but Peeves will be on the alert to try to block your way as you go along. It is your job to gather the information and deduce the "culprit" who performed the spell and where they did it. Since one of the six is the "culprit" if you discover it is yourself, you must still keep it quiet as to not let others know. When you have figured out all the information, you must head to see Fluffy, Hagrid's three headed dog, and a teacher will be there to assist you in revealing to Fluffy the identity of the culprit. Should you be right, the teacher will play a flute that will put Fluffy to sleep and you will be rewarded 50 points, but if you are wrong, then Fluffy will be very angry and you will forfeit your turn and your other classmates will have the chance to guess. The game will end at 5 pm today for all groups. Good luck to everyone!"   
  
Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle stared at Ron and Harry and just sneered.   
  
"We're going to get you," Malfoy said, and started off in the direction of Potions class in the dungeons.  
  
"He's taking this WAY too seriously," Harry commented.   
  
"So where are you guys going to go firs...." Ron began.  
  
"Where's Hermione?" Harry asked, but they saw the back of her bushy brown hair and flowing robes darting into the library.  
  
"Should have known," Ron smirked. "Well I think I'll just head to Herbology first. "Good luck, although I'll beat you or....more importantly, Hermione."  
  
Harry laughed slightly but didn't respond. "I'm off to uh...oh, the Great Hall again I suppose, there's supposed to be clues there."  
  
And with that, the "Mystery at Hogwarts" contest had officially begun. 


	2. Part 2

Ron left Harry and headed toward the main entrance of Hogwarts so he could get to the greenhouse where Herbology class was held. He reckoned that most students would be focusing their attention on the rooms within Hogwarts first, so he might be able to get to Herbology and pick out those clues before anyone else got to them.  
  
The day was bright and Ron squinted as he walked out on the lawn, seeing in the distance the Beauxbatons chariot as he headed toward the greenhouse. He figured that Dumbledore must be feeling really guilty about the rest of the students not getting a chance to contribute to the Triwizard tournament and that's why he was holding this "Mystery at Hogwarts" contest. It really was quite extensive, but then Ron didn't mind having a chance to uppercut his friends in a competition and get some recognition himself.  
  
Just as he expected, the greenhouse was completely deserted. There weren't even any other students heading that way, they were probably too engulfed in the chaos inside. At least Peeves wouldn't be able to stop him out here. Inside, Ron could see different colored envelopes strategically placed throughout the greenhouse. He kept his eye out out for purple colored ones, his designated team color. He had just come upon one and was about to open it up when he heard a rustling from ahead of him, and Ron looked up, a bit startled, keeping a firm grip on the clue and walking forward. "Hello, anyone there? Surely not..Peeves? Is that you?"  
  
Ahead of him Ron saw a girl bending over a huge bouquet of Arythmian Orchids, which had the interesting effect of changing colors depending on the mood of the person smelling them. Ron approached the figure, who had long powder blue robes on and stunningly beautiful silver white hair. "Excuse me?"  
  
The girl looked up from the flowers just as an annoying buzz zipped by Ron's ear. He slapped the insect away and when he was looking at the girl again he realized who it was.  
  
"Zoh...I know ou," the girl said, tossing her long hair behind her onto her back.  
  
Ron was speechless, and all he could do was stutter once he found any words to say at all. "Oh...uh...um..er..hi."  
  
"Ron wvight?" the girl said, smiling now and walking in Ron's direction, since he had all but stopped, glued to the spot.  
  
"R..right."  
  
"Silly boy...I am Fleur, one of the Triwizard champions, do 'ou not know me?" Her eyes were practically piercing him now and Ron just felt like his legs would give out at any second.  
  
"I..I know. Er..what are you doing ...here, I mean..in the greenhouse?" Ron could feel what was left of his jello legs melting.  
  
"Vhy I needed to get away from that silly activity at 'Ogwarts. Ve foreign schools do not vant to interfere. It was quiet out 'ere"  
  
"Well it is now but there will..will be people coming, "Ron gulped, his hands were now clammy and the clue envelope was suffering as he practically crumpled it up in his nervousness.  
  
"Ou vant thee purple?" Fleur said, coming closer and taking the envelope from Ron's hand. It practically ripped in half when he couldn't decide whether he wanted to hold onto it or let her have it. "I'm not in zee contest, I can help 'ou." Fleur smiled again, those eyes finally doing their job and causing Ron to lose his balance and topple into some Slumberwhip seedlings. He embarrassedly tried to get back up, but knew that he was under the Veela's spell, even if she was only PART Veela.  
  
"Oh der..." Fleur exclaimed, trying to help him with his balance while opening the purple clue at the same time. "Here..," she said, handing it to him. "It says "Ron Weasley", that is 'our name, is it not?."  
  
Ron had finally managed to halfway compose himself. "Yeah...me. That means that..," he smiled broadly, "I'm not the culprit. I guess this game is starting out really well so far." He pulled out a piece of parchment and wrote the information down on it. "Thank you so much ...Fleur," he said, and he noticed that she was practically in his face, looking over his shoulder at the card.  
  
"Moi! vewy good!" Fleur said, taking the card from Ron and giving him a peck on the mouth. "Good luck," she winked, patting his shoulder.  
  
Ron couldn't believe his good fortune, he just stood there absolutely dumbfounded for a few seconds staring at her and not believing that his crush had actually kissed him. After about 5 minutes staring stupidly at her with a dazed look, Fleur finally had to go over to shake him out of it. "Vell..shouldn't 'ou be going?"  
  
Ron jumped. "Oh! Right...uh..thank you Fleur..and um...good luck with the rest of the tournament."  
  
Fleur winked and then giggled as Ron now hurried out of the greenhouse, just in time to see other students headed there. He was in seventh heaven and was now more positive than ever that he'd win this game. "What a woman..." he said dreamily as he made his way back toward the school.  
  
* * *  
  
Meanwhile, during Ron's rendevous in the greenhouse, the rest of Hogwarts was bustling with activity. Students were so thick in the halls that it was a wonder Peeves could block them anymore than they did themselves. Hermione was in the library, flitting around among the stacks in intense concentration and acting a bit put off that there were so many people in there along with her. She thought this was HER place, and it was quite a nerve that it took something like a contest to get more people into the place that was a valuable resources for practically ANYTHING...but then she knew that she was the only one who seemed to realize how great the library was. The purple envelope was sticking out of "Hogwarts, A History," just as she thought it would be. She smirked, thinking that the others in her group would be hard pressed to figure out from the clues that this was where the envelope was hidden and even if they did, they'd have to go to the card catalog to find out where it was on the shelves unlike herself, who had it memorized. She had thus saved very valuable time. She opened the envelope and saw that it revealed "The Library" itself as not being the room the crime was committed in. "Thank God for that," Hermione sighed with relief, and she wrote down on her parchment the revelation and then conspicously put the envelope back in the book and slid it on the shelf. She then shuffled off, quite satisfied with herself, back out into the hallway where the stack of books she was carrying was suddenly and mercilessly knocked out of her hands and thrown into a wall.  
  
Hermione gasped with shock and angrily went to pick up her books. "Peeves! Stop that, it's not funny!"  
  
"They're only books," Peeves laughed insanely, pulling them from her hands again and slamming them onto the floor, ruffling the pages violently as Hermione looked on with horror.   
  
"ONLY books...how can you say that?" she snapped, obviously not realizing that telling a ghost that was like talking to a brick wall. Peeves had absolutely no need for books, to him they were just another plaything to torture students with. But Peeves had a very short attention span, like that of a child, and he had now moved off to try to bother and annoy other students, blocking their entrances to the rooms. Hermione had just started picking the books up again when she was rudely pushed from behind. It was Malfoy, and although Peeves had moved on, trading one for the other was definitely not going to make things any easier.  
  
"God you're STILL here? I've already been in two rooms, " Malfoy sneered. "Figures that a know- it -all bookworm would get sidetracked by inconsequential things like useless textbooks. No doubt you'll lose."  
  
"Oh be quiet Malfoy, for your information it was Peeves that held me up, I knew right where to look in there to get the clue, which is more than I can say for you."  
  
"Sure, whatever, "Malfoy shrugged, pushing his way past other students into the library.  
  
Hermione sighed in disgust and headed toward the next nearest room, Filch's Office. She wasn't crazy about going there, but since it was part of the game, she knew he couldn't protest. She did wish she had brought Crookshanks along though, he could have kept Mrs. Norris at bay.  
  
* * *  
  
Harry stared around the Great Hall which was now being emptied of the breakfast dishes. He actually felt pretty strange everytime he came in here, the memory now very vivid of his name coming out of the Goblet of Fire. He pushed those feelings aside though for now, he didn't really want to think about the Triwizard tournament, he had a purple envelope to find. He read over the parchment with the clues on it again and just stared around the room. He was terrible at riddles, but knew if nothing else he could just look under every table in the place till he found the envelope. Just then, he heard a bit of commotion across the room and saw a couple of house elves carrying a tray with multicolored plates on it. He didn't remember having those at breakfast, so he approached the elves and asked them what they were doing.  
  
"It being our duty sir," said a female elf, who just thrust the tray out at Harry. He looked down and saw that she had about 8 different plates on there, each with a matching colored envelope on top. "Ohhh," Harry smiled. Uh...what colors does your companion have?" Harry asked the elf, who looked over at the other elf, a male, with a look of confusion.  
  
"Sir wanting another plate?" asked the second elf, who now held his tray up in front of Harry. Sure enough, there was a purple plate with a purple envelope, and Harry gladly took it. "Thank you," he said, smiling at the elves who just shrugged as if they didn't have any idea what was going on besides the duty they were supposed to perform.  
  
The envelope contained a card saying "Great Hall" and Harry smirked a bit. "Isn't that interesting..like this room doesn't want to be the culprit."  
  
"Sir?" said the female elf, curtsying but looking a bit uncertain.  
  
"Nothing. Thank you very much for the information." Harry began to walk out, but the male elf came over and grabbed onto his leg.  
  
"Is purple sir?"  
  
"Huh?" Harry asked, surprised.  
  
The elf pointed to the same plate which now had a second envelope on it. Harry looked at it uncertainly and then picked it up, opening it and finding a card that said he should hold onto it and whenever he ran into anyone else from his team, they had to tell him all of the spells they had discovered. "Wow," Harry said excitedly.  
  
"You may be keeping that one sir," the male elf said, stepping back.  
  
"Ok, thank you again," Harry said and, smiling, he ran out of the Great Hall.  
  
to be cont... 


	3. Part 3

About an hour later, Harry ran into Ron in the hallway on his way to the library. Ron seemed to have this halfway dazed sort of look on his face.  
  
"Hey, Ron!" Harry said, walking over to him.  
  
Ron at first didn't seem to hear him, but then he looked at him glossy eyed and smiled widely. "Oh, hey Harry."  
  
"Hey..um...are you OK?" Harry said, a bit concerned.  
  
"Oh of..of course. It's just that...I saw ...oh nevermind," Ron continued, staring up into space now and touching his fingers to his lips as if remembering something pleasant.  
  
"Uh..if you say so..." Harry said uncertainly. "So how many rooms have you been in?"  
  
"Oh uh," Ron said, temporarily snapping out of his zombie state long enough to look down at his parchment. "I've been to Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, the Great Hall, and Transfiguration. I have the spell figured out but still dont' know about the person or the room."  
  
"Oh REALLY..you have the spell figured out eh?" Harry smiled. "Well Ron...what spells do you have?"  
  
"Huh? I'm not going to tell you," Ron said, a bit shocked.  
  
"Sure you can," Harry said, pulling out the purple card he had kept. "From the Great Hall, the house elf gave it to me, probably cause I was the first one in our group to get there. It says that you are to tell me the spells you have."  
  
Ron groaned a bit but nodded when he looked at the card. He gave Harry all the spells, and now Harry also knew the answer. "Wingardium Levosia huh?" Harry said absently. "The levitating spell? Doesn't seem like it could be much of a crime using that unless you levitated something dangerous like a monster."  
  
Ron shrugged and then glared at Harry icily. "It's LeVOSia, you are pronouncing it all wrong," Ron said, and Harry was quite clear on the imitation that Ron was trying to convey.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder how Hermione is doing with this game," Harry said in response.  
  
"Don't know but I"m on the way to the library now to find that clue."  
  
"Well I guess I'll go with you, it will probably be tough," Harry half smirked.  
  
"Yeah and I can't seem to fleurgure out the clues for where the envelope is hidden in there either," Ron explained.  
  
Harry's eyes opened wide. "Fleurgure out?"  
  
Ron went as red as a beet. "What oh..uh..nothing." He began to sheepishly walk in the direction of the library.  
  
"Wait Ron...what was THAT all about..you still thinking of Fleur Delacore..remember she is my rival in the Triwizard tournament."  
  
"Oh no..it's nothing...I mean, well she's just gorgeous and everything but, I mean, no nothing." Ron stumbled over his words miserably.  
  
"If it wasn't for the game, I'd pull out some more information from you right now," Harry said, a big grin on his face, "but as it is, we'll just have to wait." They now were at the library where Peeves was amusing himself once more and was pulling people's parchment out of their hands and flying it about. Many of the students looked both annoyed and petrified that others would see their clues should they not get their own parchments back immediately. Harry and Ron chuckled softly at the sight and took the opportunity to slip into the library.  
  
"Wonder if Hermione ran into him there," Harry asked.  
  
"Now THAT would have been a funny sight. Maybe she's still in here, maybe she found a book that caught her attention and forgot about the game," Ron smiled, beginning to look at the many shelves in front of him.  
  
"How are we ever going to find that clue among all these books!" Harry said, a bit exasperated. "It could be in any one of them."  
  
"Do what Hermione would do," Ron suggested, leading Harry to the third row in.  
  
"What?" Harry looked at Ron quizzicly as he began to go through numerous books in the stacks.  
  
"Hey, Hermione has dragged me through here on occassion..I'm talking EVERY row. While I try to explain the nuances of the Muggle automobile...you know...I got interested in that since dad got the car..."  
  
"The one that is now in the Forbidden Forest you mean?" Harry sighed.  
  
"Yeah," Ron blushed, "That one. Anyway, while I stand talking about that and other interesting things, like chess and the like, she is wandering around taking just about every book off the shelf and explaining to me which section what books are in and how I just MUST read this and how could I NOT have read that. But in this case, I think all her lecturing has paid off. I just happened to remember that this section contains the basic textbooks that we use here...most people don't use it cause we have to buy everything but she needed to look up...ah...!" Ron had pulled "Hogwarts, a History" off the shelf and a purple envelope fell onto the floor. It was somewhat crumpled so it was obvious that others in their group had already seen it. "Voila!" Ron smirked widely. "And she thought SHE was the logical one."  
  
"Well I must say, that was good thinking Ron. I thought we'd be here all day." Harry said, amazed.  
  
"Never hurts to be friends with a bookworm," Ron said, reading "The Library" out to Harry. "Well damn, and I was hoping it WOULD be the library."  
  
"Oh Ron, you and Hermione argue way too much. I know she's opinionated but..."  
  
"It's fun giving her a hard time, but she's a great person." Ron responded, tucking the card back in the envelope and putting it back in the book.  
  
"Gonna tell her about Fleur?" Harry said, in a semi sarcastic voice with a glimmer of humor in it.  
  
"Gah..." Ron said. "She wouldn't approve. Look I'll tell you about Fleur later, Harry."  
  
"I know I know. Well..we might as well stick together the rest of the way, it's all going to be points for Gryffindor anyway."  
  
"Well..no way Harry..that clue was a freebie..well I guess so were the spells but..I want to win this, so I'm off to Filch's Office now."  
  
"Allright..avoiding the issue," Harry chuckled.  
  
"Hey you were the one who said we didn't have time to talk about it now," Ron said defensively, his face still red with embarrassment.  
  
"I know," Harry smiled. "Just enjoy giving you a hard time." Harry looked at Ron meaningfully and hit him on the back as they left the library. Peeves was thankfully not at the entrance so they went their seperate ways with no incidence.  
  
Ron now was headed for Filch's Office, probably the room he least wanted to visit besides Potions, which he was saving for last. He stuck his head into the open door and saw that the room was deserted. He reckoned most students didn't want to stay very long in here and he didn't blame them although with all the papers stacked messily around the office, he didn't think it would be any easy task to find the clue he was looking for. He sighed and began to search the desk when he heard some shuffling from below him and caught a glimpse of the swish of a tail under the desk.  
  
"Great..Mrs Norris," Ron said, tensing up a bit. He really didn't want to run into that cat. He tiptoed around the desk, keeping a keen eye on the floor and suddenly heard a slight meow sound coming from underneath before spying a cat walking out. It was bearing it's teeth and hissing at another cat, which seemed agitated but was backed into the corner of the underside of the desk.  
  
"What the..." Ron said, noticing that the cat he was looking at had orange stripes. "Crookshanks, is that ...you?"  
  
The cat turned toward him and at that moment, Mrs. Norris, who was swiping her paw at Crookshanks from her desk wall prison, took the opportunity from this distraction to escape from under the desk and around Ron's legs. Ron was taken aback, but now looked as Crookshanks sat purring at his feet and looking up at him. He leaned down and petted the cat. "Good boy..you got that mean Mrs Norris..." Just then, Crookshanks pounced on Ron and bit his hand before darting around him, looking for Mrs Norris again. "Ouch!! Damn CAT!" Ron said, holding his hand and looking after Crookshanks angrily. "Hermione...." he whispered just as he could hear the screech of a man's voice right outside the door. Ron worriedly got up and then saw a sight that he didn't know whether to laugh or cry about. Filch was standing in the entrance of his office and Crookshanks was hanging by his teeth from Filch's arm. Filch was crying out "Mangy beast" and flung the cat to the floor, who then just went darting off into the hall, presumably still after Mrs Norris.  
  
Filch looked, understandably, in a mood and just stared at Ron. "That YOUR cat?"  
  
"Uh..no..actually, he bit me too.." Ron said in a weak voice. He still felt the throws of laughter in his stomach.  
  
"What the hell do you want?" Filch demanded, scoffing and staring at his arm.  
  
"Purple env..."  
  
Filch impatiently dug through a certain stack of papers and handed it to him. "There, now out!" he urged. Ron quickly looked at the card, which had a picture of Goyle's ugly mug on it, and then he gave the card back to Filch.  
  
"Thanks," he said, hurrying out of the room just as he heard Filch cursing under his breath something about how he couldn't believe they were using HIS office as part of this blasted game.  
  
Ron looked at his cat bite and laughed a bit in spite of himself. He didn't feel it was that bad, but it was something he could hang over Hermione's head next time he saw her. He went over all that he didn't know yet. He had it narrowed down to 3 rooms and 2 people. Unfortunately the ones who he figured WOULD have done it, namely Goyle, Crabbe, and Malfoy, had all been cleared. And since his card was in Herbology, that left Harry and Hermione. This game was certainly getting interesting he thought, as he headed in the direction of History of Magic class.  
  
to be cont. 


	4. 

Time was growing short and many of the student teams had managed to confront Fluffy and claim their victories. Hagrid sat watching over the beast when Hermione came rushing, out of breath, up to him.   
  
"Hagrid!" she cried, flinging her arms in the air wildly. " I have the answer for the purple team!" She said, thrusting out a purple envelope toward him. "I need to reveal it in front of Fluffy."  
  
"Oh Reeeeeally bookworm?" a rude voice said behind Hagrid. Malfoy emerged with his two cronies still in tow.  
  
"Now Malfoy yeh know yeh got it wrong....yeh are out of the game," Hagrid said sternly. It was obvious that Malfoy had been hanging around here pestering Hagrid for some time trying to get him to change his mind.  
  
"Why you oversized dragon loving oaf, I only got one wrong and then figured it out...." Malfoy said evilly.  
  
"Still, yeh got it wrong and rules are rules," Hagrid insisted. "I believe it's Hermione's turn to guess."  
  
Hermione had the biggest grin on her face but just then, Peeves chose to block her way to Fluffy.  
  
"Aggh...get out of my WAY you annoying ghost!" Hermione said, flustered. She looked really perturbed and more than merely annoyed by the obstacle.   
  
"Weasley's card put me here," Peeves said, swishing air around Hermione so that her hair flew all over the place and ended in a windswept mess over her face.  
  
"Nonsense, I have the answer," Hermione said irritably, blowing the hair from her face, but then she could see Hagrid was now talking to Ron, and Harry had just come up behind her and they both could hear Ron's words quite clearly.  
  
"Yes Hagrid, Fluffy, the answer for the purple team is......HERMIONE Granger," and he smiled evilly through Peeves at Hermione as he said this, "in Defense Against the Dark Arts" with the "Alohamara Spell".  
  
Upon saying this, Peeves sighed, knowing his fun was over, and there wasn't a peep out of Fluffy. Instead, the dog just whined a bit and began wagging it's tail. Now free, Hermione and Harry came up behind Ron.  
  
Hermione was looking both embarrassed and angry. "I had the answer! Even though it WAS me..I'm not really a culprit, it was just a game..." she now had her arms crossed.  
  
"Well, I got a card that let me tell Peeves where to move, so I told him to block your entrance in here," Ron said triumphantly. "Sorry Hermione, you lose...." he was smirking wildly at her. "AND you are the culprit!!" He now began laughing hysterically and Harry couldn't help but giggle too as Hagrid just shrugged his shoulders, hiding a small smile himself.  
  
"Very funny," Hermione said. The sound of the laughter was almost enough to make her break a smile but the fact that it was at her expense kept her blushing intently and turning away from all of them.  
  
"Hey, and your cat was in on it too..he bit me.." Ron said, grabbing Hermione's shoulder playfully and turning her around so she could see. He really didn't have a bit of malice, just amusement in his voice. After all, he loved teasing her and was as good at it as she was getting him to make trips to the library with her. When Hermione saw the bite marks though, she just gasped. "Crookshanks did that..uh...I'm sorry but...what were you doing...he always likes to play bite!"  
  
"Not a big deal," Ron said, shrugging. "Come on...it's time for supper, " he said, urging the rest of them on, Harry just followed a bit dazedly, now that the excitement of the Mystery at Hogwarts was over, he had to worrry about the Triwizard tournament again. Hermione just sluffed her feet behind them, still looking fairly red and whispering to Hagrid to make sure NO ONE knew that her name had been drawn as the "spellcaster" in this little game. She would NEVER do anything like that and it was downright scandalous.  
  
The tables in the Great Hall were now very lively with talk of the game: who won for what team, where Peeves had managed to pop up, the strange places clues had been hidden, and Gryffindor was no exception. Ron had finally gotten a victory..he now had the attention, even if just for a short time, that had been on Harry for so long and would return to him during the next Triwizard task, and he had outwitted Hermione by getting to Fluffy before she did as well as being able to rub it in that she was the one who "did" the horrible deed. He was in heaven! Just as Ron continued to boast, there were the sounds of owls and everyone knew it was time for the evening mail. Hermione was somewhat relieved to receive a copy of the evening Daily Prophet so she could hide behind it, but as soon as she opened the front page, her eyes got really wide and she began to laugh uncontrollably.  
  
"Oh RRRRRON," she said, interrupting his fun.  
  
"What?" he looked at her, somewhat confused and getting a bit worried when he saw the look on her face.  
  
"Well...I hate Rita Skeeter as much as anyone after all these strange articles she's been publishing, but I have to say, the story on the front page is a rather interesting one."  
  
"Huh?" Ron said, shrugging. "Something else about Harry?"  
  
"Of course not," Hermione said, "It's about the Mystery at Hogwarts game. Of course I once again have no idea HOW she got the details for this story, but it's juicy all the same. Let me read:  
  
YOUNG WIZARD RON WEASLEY WINS "MYSTERY AT HOGWARTS" CONTEST  
  
Ron Weasley, son of Arthur and Molly Weasley, and friend of our famous Mr. Harry Potter was one of the many   
students who participated in today's special "Mystery at Hogwarts" event at the famous wizarding school. Weasley   
was among the winners, grabbing the prize for the purple team."  
  
Ron just beamed. "So what are you on about that? I did win."  
  
"I know," Hermione said with a gleam in her eye, "but let me go on.  
  
As many of you know, the quest for the Triwizard Cup is being sought at this time as well and one of the  
champions, Miss Fleur Delecore, was seen in the company of Mr. Weasley during the contest today in  
the Herbology Greenhouse. It was said that Miss Delacore, being part Veela, was able to entice Mr.   
Weasley into something other than his normal self and after a seductive and passionate kiss, gave Mr.  
Weasley the clues he needed to win. Although Miss Delacore was seen helping other students later, only  
Mr. Weasley fell under her floosie charms. I suppose in France things are defined much differently but   
this being England, not France, Mr. Weasley perhaps cannot be granted full status of winning the contest   
because he knew better than to fall for such scandalous behavior.  
  
This news is just the next set in the strange occurences and behavior we have seen behind the scenes at Hogwarts  
the past few months. You can be assured that this reporter will keep you on top of all the stories related to this  
and other events surrounding the school."  
  
"Uh...." Ron just blushed fiercely, especially now that all eyes at the Gryffindor table were on him but with different looks than they had had when he was bragging about his victory. The girls just sighed in disgust and the boys just stared at Ron, then at each other, then laughed heartily and slapped Ron on the shoulder. "Whhhhhoa.....you and Fleur..how'd you do it, what was it like?"   
  
Hermione, thinking that the whole thing was fake, now hit the paper down on the table. "Excuse me, but what are you going ON about? This story is false although admittedly caused quite a laugh. I mean it would be completely wrong for Ron to be interested at ALL in Floosies. Hmph." she crossed her arms. "He learned that a LONG time ago when I snapped him out of that Veela nonsense."  
  
Harry was just sort of hiding his mouth behind his hand knowingly.  
  
Hermione glanced at him. "What's wrong with you? This is of course nonsense although it should bring Ron off his high horse somewhat about winning, it was just a game."  
  
Just then, Fleur walked past the table and waved and winked at Ron. "Congratu..ations'" she said sweetly as she went and sat down again. Ron blushed. Hermione looked at Fleur, then Ron, then at the other Gryffindors. She then glared at Ron. "WHAT did you do..you don't mean to tell me that Floosie...that any of this is TRUE do you?"  
  
"No...I mean..uh...I saw her in the greenhouse when I went to look for clues but she didn't kiss me or anything, I mean..."  
  
The other Gryffindors were smirking now and trying to eat their desserts to hide their amusement at Ron's uncomfortableness and Hermione's outburst.  
  
Hermione had now got up and had marched over to Ron. "Time to go to the library, and YOU have an important assignment to work on, so you are coming too."  
  
She had her hands on her hips and Ron knew he had to comply. There just was something about Hermione that he knew if he didn't do what she wanted, he'd be sorry for it later. He smiled sheepishly at the other Gryffindors and said he'd see them in the Gryffindor common room later and got up, heading out toward the exit, Hermione right behind.  
  
Harry sat watching as Hermione chased Ron with a determined and scolding look on her face and groaned as he thought "Here they go again...." He then sighed and began eating his pudding, thinking about the next Triwizard task. The other Gryffindors now had moved onto other topics and Harry just sat contemplating the future.  
  
THE END 


End file.
